


Introductions

by Koruga



Series: Remembrance [2]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Haunting, I'm pretty sure this one doesn't have violence in it which is a first, Major Character Death But They've All Been Dead For A While, Unreliable Narrator, Wash is in this but he's comatose so he doesn't get a character tag, comatose character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 04:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14804576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koruga/pseuds/Koruga
Summary: Felix gets pulled further into the afterlife, and learns a little bit about how ghosts work. He also manages to earn the ire of half of the ghosts he's encountered, which definitely bodes well for his future.





	Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> This one took a lot longer to write than the last one, mostly because I kept getting stumped at how to continue. But here we are, and I'm definitely going to be continuing this story, though not at any fast pace.
> 
> Occurs directly after returned, and sets up a lot of possible ways that ghosts work in this story. It's a little confusing when AI were ghosts at one point, and ghosts were AI, but I think this should be...some explanation.

"We're not exactly sure how this whole afterlife thing works ourselves. As far as any of us can tell, anyone who dies becomes a ghost, but you'd figure that if that were the case, the entire galaxy would be overrun with them. But here we are. Not exactly ghost territory." York shrugged a bit as he and Felix entered a hospital. He'd been taking the former mercenary through just about everything he had on what being a ghost entailed, and Felix mostly just seemed confused. "There's more ghosts here on Chorus, so it might just be if you've died recently, or violently. CT can fill you in on her theories."

 

York, Felix noted, was a very emotive man, quick to emphasise a point with gestures, and his face rarely looked neutral. He also had barely given Felix a word in edgewise, which was an unfamiliar experience for him to be on the receiving end of. He held up a hand several times to try and get the man to shut up, before eventually York paused.

 

_ Finally _ . Felix let out a deep sigh. "I get it, being dead is complicated. It's almost more complicated than being alive, but what I don't understand is what any of this has to do with me."

 

That earned a laugh from York as he leaned against a hospital wall. Older ghosts apparently got a lot more control over their phasing, while Felix was just lucky not to fall through the floor at any given point in time. "Everything has to be about you, huh? You know, we were watching you all the way back at Crash Site Bravo. You're pretty good at lying, but some of us are better at seeing through your bullshit than Wash was. Though to be fair, Wash has always been pretty bad at reading between the lines to find anything other than what he wanted to know.

 

"Agent Washington scored highly on tests of perception, Agent York. He was unable to determine that Felix was lying as quickly as you were because he was not in possession of an AI unit. Had Agent Carolina been present, he would have been revealed much earlier." Felix's good mood over shitting on Wash soured as a small green hologram appeared by York's shoulder. "He has excellent cadence, but his body language is sloppy, especially when he is unarmoured."

 

"And you were going to tell me that you had an AI when?" Felix asked incredulously, tensing up to take a few steps back. A dumb AI was a useful tool, but a smart AI like the Freelancers had? Even in fragmented form, those things were bad news.

 

York didn't seem to share his concerns, instead looking at his AI companion. "Well, Delta died, too. Only makes sense that he'd be here with us."

 

"He's also a computer program. I don't think that computer programs are on the short list for becoming ghosts, do you? They don't exactly have souls."

 

"That's not a prerequisite for becoming a ghost." A new voice cut into the conversation, and a young woman with a haircut that Felix promptly placed into the 'incredibly stupid' category made her way in between Felix and York. "I think your being here proves that."

 

Felix took a harsh breath, stepping closer to the woman. "Oh, that's real hilarious. Tell me, do you --"

 

"Connie, come on. He can't do anything, it's just tacky to call him out like that."

 

"He tried to kill a planet, York. I think he gets to take a little shit for it." The woman -- Connie -- looked back at Felix. "You need to be remembered to stay a ghost. That's what all the evidence points to, and Delta here hasn't been forgotten yet." 

 

The hologram tilted its head a bit. "That is not a proven hypothesis. Without further testing, it is impossible to determine if that is the case, or if ghosts simply disappear after a certain time. It could also be possible that I am merely an extension of York's ghost, as we worked as a unit for quite some time."

 

"Well, I don't see you coming up with anything better. It would explain why there are so few ghosts in the galaxy compared to how many beings have ever lived. Once you're forgotten, you're really gone." Connie rubbed her hands a bit, frowning. "You shouldn't bring him into the hospital room. You might think it's a good idea to let everyone else see him, but not all of us want him back. Even letting him stay on Chorus is a bad idea, considering how many people he made into ghosts."

 

Okay, that was uncalled for. "I was doing a job, and I don't think that they're going to recognise me. None of the Feds, at least, and really, are ghosts going to gossip about the big bad Felix who fucked up their planet?"

 

"Actually, yes. It's not like we have anything better to do." York shrugged.

 

"...Fucking, amazing. So I'm your new project, is that it? Are you going to see if you can fix me?" He didn't need fixing. He wasn't the broken one, he was fine, if a little dead. He didn't need to be patronised by anyone.

 

Another shrug, and York opened the door to a hospital room. "No, I just figured you had nowhere better to go. You didn't look like you were enjoying watching your old partner become less of a monster and more of a person."

 

"That's a little harsh."   
  
"York and Wyoming were the ones who volunteered to keep an eye on you after they figured out you and Locus were liars. If anyone knows what you did, it's him." Connie slipped in as well, leaving Felix alone and awkward in a hallway. He was rather quick to follow them.

 

Promptly, he was greeted by at least half a dozen people in various states of armouredness. He recognised the aqua of Carolina immediately, and Wash's steely armour was sitting in a heap near the bed.

 

Any hopes he had of Carolina having died in the interim since he'd been gone were dashed when York walked through her and she didn't react. "So, I bet you're just dying to meet all the Freelancers. Anyone want to say hello to our new friend?"   
  


A mustachioed man in white waved dispassionately from the farthest chair from the bed. "He really will fit in quite well with us. You must have taken a few pages out of my book, my friend, though the lengths to which you went would make even Gary blush."

 

Wyoming. That one was Agent Wyoming, at least as far as the Freelancer records were to go by. Another excellent liar, but Felix didn't exactly want to play ball with him. Wyoming was too clever by half. "Yeah, I'm real proud of it. Look where it got me." He gestured around at the room, where most people were either ignoring him or glaring at him. He far preferred the latter.

 

An AI perched itself onto Wyoming's shoulder, speaking in a heavily synthesised voice.  **"You were very good at what you did. Let me ask you a question. Knock knock."**

 

"Knock knock knock it off, Gary," called a blonde woman from the other side of the room. She looked about ready to double-kill the AI. "Stop trying to get friendly with him."

 

"Oh, like you've never tried to kill Washington before," snapped another, newer woman in full black armour, entering the room sharply and causing everyone to sit and stand a little straighter. "How's Wash doing?"

 

"He's doing pretty well," York said, taking a lean on the wall next to the bed, near a large hulk of a man that Felix identified as the former Meta. "If any of us gets too excited, he'll probably ask for some more drugs, so everyone try to keep calm."   
  
"You're asking us to keep calm with a fucking mass murderer in the room? Even we're not that low, York, and he nearly killed the only people that are left to remember us!" Her hands were balled into fists, and the man next to him -- twins, North and South, it had to be -- barely ghosted his hands across her shoulders. 

 

"Come on, you're not going to be doing Carolina any favours by trying to attack someone where she can see it," he said calmly, keeping deep breaths to try and get her to center herself. "You've made her question herself more than any of the rest of us here."

 

"She can take it! She was never that great to any of us anyway, why do we have to --"

 

"South." North's voice was almost dangerous, teetering on the edge between a threat and a condemnation. South's shoulders sagged for a second before she tensed them up again.

 

"This isn't over. If you do one thing wrong, we're taking this outside."

 

"South, come on," North began, but at that point, Felix just began tuning them out, instead focusing on the Meta. Like the one in black -- likely Agent Texas -- it was still wearing full armour, complete with the almost fishbowl of a helmet as it looked at Washington silently. Almost hungrily.

 

The Meta was keeping a watch, the same as Carolina was, and from how much it was reacting to the other ghosts, Felix could almost swear that it was alive as well, had he not had all but written confirmation that the used-to-be man was dead. Somebody should check on him.

 

Carefully, stealthily, Felix moved to stand near the Meta, not a single person noticing what he was doing, and moved to put a hand on its back. "Hey there, pal, I know you're taking this pretty hard. Wash was your friend, wasn't he? I--"   
  
Without missing a beat, the Meta grabbed Felix by the wrist, launched him over its massive body, and threw him down through Washington's hospital bed, blossoming both pain throughout Felix's incorporeal body and ugly British laughter from Wyoming, who had apparently  _ not _ been fooled by Felix's stealthy movements. "Oh, he truly got you, didn't he? Fantastically done, Maine, you really have been waiting for that, haven't you. I never thought you'd exhibit such patience!"

 

As Felix stood up in the middle of Washington, he noticed that other people were laughing, as well. The AI Gamma wasn't trying to hide his mechanical 'ha's; both North and South, along with North's oh-so-fucking-cute AI were chuckling with various degrees of intensity; just about everyone thought that this was hilarious.

 

Felix, naturally, did not, and that split over hard, fury fueling his veins. "Are you fucking  _ serious _ ? You're all willing to make an enemy out of me, willing to just go and --"   
  
"Felix?" Carolina's voice was unmistakable, fear and horror in her eyes as she stared at the suddenly-corporeal body of Felix, who was still standing in the middle of her critically injured friend. Until she was staring at a ghost of Maine, and then nothing at all.

 

The Meta held Felix down to the floor, seeming to glare at him despite the coverall helmet. Its hands held down Felix's shoulders, solid enough to the mercenary that he couldn't get out, and through growls and snarls, one message was very clear to Felix.

 

_ Don't touch him. _

 

"Fine, alright, just let go of me!" Felix pushed ineffectually against the Meta, who only relented when Connie put her hand on his shoulder. "You know, Conn, I'm starting to agree with you. Agreeing to come here was a mistake." He stood up and brushed himself off, moving to leave the room.

 

**"And where are you going?"** came Gary's (that couldn't be his real name) electronic voice. **"Knock knock, Felix."**   
  
"Mmyeah, who's there?" Felix stopped at the doorway and crossed his arms to look at Wyoming and his AI.

 

**"Deuce."** Already, Wyoming was starting to snicker, which only annoyed Felix further.

 

"Deuce who?"

 

**"You're deuceless, right now."** AI and handler alike erupted in stupid annoying laughter, and Felix, once again, saw red.

 

The door slammed shut as Carolina looked at it in shock. "Well, Wash...I think I'm finally going crazy. You've got to wake up soon, or I might just lose it." She put her head back into her hands, and while she wasn't religious, she began to compose a silent prayer.

**Author's Note:**

> Much as how Returned started from a desire to see Grif hanging out in Locus's lap, this fic was borne from the need for Maine to throw Felix over his back. I'd like to think I've succeeded in making my desires way more difficult than they had any right to be.


End file.
